Bernard Schoenburg: Nugent appearance cost GOP $15,000

Friday

Former Sangamon County Republican Chairman TONY LIBRI said the party got a good price, $15,000, to bring conservative activist and “Cat Scratch Fever” rocker TED NUGENT to Springfield.

Former Sangamon County Republican Chairman TONY LIBRI said the party got a good price, $15,000, to bring conservative activist and “Cat Scratch Fever” rocker TED NUGENT to Springfield.

The county GOP paid two installments of $7,505 each to the cleverly named Projectile Marketing — a moniker that fits right in with Nugent’s schtick of being the gun-loving hunter who doesn’t like the “America-hating punk” in the White House.

Or so he let us know when in Springfield.

It turns out, of course, that Springfield’s taste of Nugent, when he appeared at the party’s Lincoln Day fundraiser in February, was just a sample of the message Nugent has continued to deliver elsewhere. That led the Secret Service to take interest in Nugent, after he told the National Rifle Association in St. Louis recently that “If BARACK OBAMA becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

Nice to know that Springfield got a chance to be involved with this class act.

But the local Republicans didn’t do too bad, bottom-line-wise, with Nugent’s appearance. The party’s campaign finance report for the three months ended March 31 shows that the county GOP began the period with $26,042 in the bank, raised $69,465, paid out $57,187 (including the Nugent fee), and ended with $38,320 on hand. It has raised at least $2,150 more since then.

And that doesn’t count the Sangamon County Republican Foundation, which often helps local candidates and GOP causes. That committee ended March with more than $289,000 to play with. The Sangamon County Board Republican Election Committee had another $10,000 in the bank.

All of this bodes well for the party’s new chairman, ROSEMARIE LONG. At least there are some resources available.

Contrast that with the situation facing Sangamon County Democrats, who just picked Springfield Ward 3 Ald. DORIS TURNER to be their new chair. The party’s main fundraising committee began the year with $3,163 in the bank, took in $75 over the following three months, and, after some expenditures, had only $880 in the bank on March 31. Sangamon County Young Democrats raised more than $5,500 during the quarter, but still ended up with less than $2,500 on hand.

Turner is putting the best face on this.

“Historically, the Republicans have always raised more money than the Democrats,” she said, but she plans an “aggressive fundraising campaign.”

“I have already started to reach out to traditional Democratic stakeholders in Sangamon County, and they said that they would be very happy to work with us in terms of raising money.”

Still, she said, volunteers have always been a strong part of the organization.

“In all of my campaigns, I have always subscribed to the philosophy that I would rather have a battery of enthusiastic volunteers working on my behalf than a lot of money in the bank,” Turner said.

She also confirmed she nearly had a challenger for chairman at last week’s meeting of newly elected precinct committeemen. The name of CHUCK GIGER was put forth, she said, but after some discussion, Giger withdrew. She said three former party chairmen all spoke on her behalf.

Edwards, a Republican and longtime firefighter, said he joined Laborers Local 477 at the rally.
“They asked me to show up,” Edwards said, and “I told them … I believe in collective bargaining.”

Edwards said he wasn’t upset that Walker, known for backing legislation that took away bargaining rights from many public workers, was invited to Springfield to speak. But Edwards said he thinks public officials should have “guts enough to say no” while across the table from workers’ representatives. He doesn’t like that Walker acted to remove that right to negotiate.

“They’ve helped me a lot, and I didn’t have a problem when they asked me to show up and support them,” Edwards said of the laborers. “I think that’s the right thing to do.”

BRAD SCHAIVE, business manager of Local 477, said he happened to be talking to Edwards, a friend, about other matters, and invited him to join the laborers at the rally. Schaive said Americans have long fought to have choice — and one of those choices should be to belong to a union.

A little good news for Gill
DAVID GILL, the Bloomington emergency room physician who won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House in the new 13th Congressional District, is taking heart from a new poll that shows him leading a couple of potential GOP opponents.

The poll, done for the Gill campaign by Victoria Research of Tacoma Park, Md., was conducted April 11-13 among 400 likely general election voters.

Of course, the winner of the GOP primary, U.S. Rep. TIM JOHNSON of Urbana, is dropping out of the November contest, and Republican county chairmen from the 14 counties in the new 13th will pick a replacement.

The poll results announced by the Gill campaign pitted Gill against a couple of congressional aides who probably are known only to insiders so far — but Gill did come out on top. In a matchup with JERRY CLARKE of Urbana, a former chief of staff to Johnson, Gill leads 40-33 percent. Against RODNEY DAVIS of Taylorville, projects director for U.S. Rep. JOHN SHIMKUS, R-Collinsville, Gill is up 41-31 percent.

Gill lost to Johnson three times in the existing 15th Congressional District, but that district is considered much more Republican-leaning than the new 13th.

“The polling shows David has a good base in the old 15th … and he starts strong in the rest of the new 13th,” said Gill spokesman MICHAEL RICHARDS in a statement. “Our new poll proves he can withstand strong criticism and attacks and still appeal to undecided voters. The Republican line that David is a ‘flawed candidate’ is just pure political posturing.”

Some prominent Democrats favored a more moderate member of their party — Greene County State’s Attorney MATT GOETTEN — for the nomination. But Gill, who has had a good bit of practice honing his message and does have enthusiasm, won the primary.

Bernard Schoenburg is political columnist for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached at 788-1540 or follow him via twitter.com/bschoenburg. His email address is
bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

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